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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

"Some fresh black pepper, sir? We find it accentuates the taste of the carrots quite nicely."

"Uh, really? Well, in that case, let 'er rip!"

Jody celebrated his "biethday" in Turkey, which explains the adorable inscription. As for the rest - I have no idea. Maybe the locals were trying to make a point about American eating habits? Is this the Turkish equivalent of those V8 commercials? Or - OR - is it possible there's some sugary Turkish treat that looks exactlylike carrot sticks? (I'm holding out hope for that one.)

Ok, Patreesha, your mission is to eat some carrots with chocolate icing and tell us what it tastes like. Quicky, now! The rest of us NEED this information.

If this was from a bakery from an English-speaking country, it might be funnier. I don't really think expecting foreign cake wreckers to spell in their non-native tongue is that fair. But it is a VERY ugly cake.

Also, my family is Turkish, and so far, I haven't encountered any Turkish desserts look quite like this.

It appears like orange-tinted white chocolate shavings. (Or at least I hope it is.) And are those lime wedges? Will probably come in handy after you take that tequila shot to help this cake go down smoothly.

I believe I can answer your question re: carrots & chocolate. When I was about 8, my dad got remarried. There was chocolate fondue with fruit and cake at the reception. Well, I'm a BIG chocolate fan, so I quickly decimated the dippers. But there was still a lot of fondue left. Oh, what to do, what to do? Then I spotted...the crudite tray. Carrots and chocolate aren't bad when you are 8. Not sure how I would feel about them now...

Mmmm...charcoal slurry icing. Omg..that looks horrible. That's even uglier than yesterday's Dr. Pachman cake with the black edges and yellow-green airbrushing. Those really do appear to be raw carrots, unevenly sliced raw carrots, not icing. And I see seeds on it, too.. yellow-green seeds in the edging around the black, like the ones I find sometimes in trail mix, hulled pumpkin seeds.

Okay, this is my first time on your site, and I have to say it is pretty damn funny. However, the REASON I am here is that one of my commenters suggested that a King Cake I decorated (none too professionally, I will admit) and posted about on my site today should be submitted here. Now, 1) I can't submit it because I didn't pay anyone for it, and 2) How should I feel that someone thinks my cake is that much of a wreck? I mean, it kind of is, but still.

Whatever, it still tastes good. And that's what really matters in a cake, right?

This cake is not my cup of tea, but after yesterday's footnote to cakery almost anything is an improvement, even carrots and chocolate. (Hmmm, hadn't thought of that combination. Well, maybe not this morning.)

Aside from the spelling/syntax problem, I was sort of leaning toward the pizza explanation, too--like those fruit pizzas that were popular about 15 years ago. The cake looks like a cookie anyhow, so maybe the orange things are supposed to be simulated cheese, but then there's that chocolate swatch with the flowers. Just not quite... .

I know all the cakes on this site are professionally made, but I'm beginning to wonder if the definition of "professional" might be a little loose...like, for example, "this cake was made by a professional wrestler, in his spare time." It blows my mind that people actually earn a paycheck making some of these things! The misspelling is the least of this cake's problems.

People already asked if those are lime wedges accompanying the carrot sticks and butter (buttercream if we're lucky) rose...but what about the maraschino cherries and pistachio (?) garnishes? This is becoming a Mediterranean trail mix cake!

I lived in Turkey for about 15 months while my husband was stationed there at Incirlik Air Base. I don't recall ever seeing any Turkish desserts looking like that. As a matter of fact, we would go eat at the local Hilton at their brunch buffet sometimes, and their desserts were absolutely beautiful! I wish I had a picture of some of them. And it was all Turkish locals that ran the hotel, not Americans.

Okay, having looked very carefully at the close-up, I am convinced that the "carrots" are something akin to chocolate shavings, the red things and the rose leaves are made of candy, and the greenish-tan stuff above and below the text field is, not mold, but a sprinkling of seeds-- not my first choice in cake topping, but possibly quite delicious.

The "pepper," on the other hand ...

wv: toyallit. "I had a bite of the pepper cake and ran for the toyallit."

Well, in the close-up I can see what appear to be pistachios, which is usually included in Baklava, and the black pepper may be some sort of ground spice.....but black pepper IS an ingredient in Masala Tea...which most people call "Chai Tea" and it's sweet. Hmmmm. I've had pickled carrots at Indian restaurants, and grated carrots with raisins do form the base of a sweet, cole-slaw type salad. Maybe the cake IS just what it appears to be. I wish we could see a photo of the inside...that might help shed some light on how it would taste. .............maybe.

did you mean to say "quicky, now" there at the end? are you encouraging Patreesha to try carrots with chocolate icing while that is going on? i thought the post before this was the one about freaky fetishes...

Sorry to burst the bubble of fun, but if you look closely at the picture you'll notice a bottle of beer in the left hand corner and the "medical instruments" are what we use here in Turkey for cookouts. I suspect it was a drunken joke. That said though, there are plenty of "wrecks" here particularly for New Years (which of course is when Santa comes and puts gifts under the tree).

On further thought, I think it might be a burfi/halva-inspired cake. Burfi and halva are dessert bars that are popular in India, Pakistan, and the Middle East. Carrot and pistachio are both common ingredients. I've seen them in indian sweet stores in chicago.

Huh. After reading the comments and taking a long hard look at this cake I have to say I agree with others. I'm seeing the 'pepper' as green sugar (look closely around the candied cherries on the edges), the carrots as some sort of chocolate shaving (look at the bottom right where the "carrot slice" is completely round - that'd have to be an entire carrot half if this were in fact a pile of carrots), and while I initially thought the green seeds were pistachios as well, upon close inspection I'm seeing pine nuts. I think you've got yourself a Kwanzaa cake there that Sandra Lee would be proud of.

I vote for the misunderstood "carrot cake" theory so many other comments have put forth.

As for pistachios, those are very common in Turkish/Mediterranean desserts - like baklava. So it's not really weird to see those.

The thing in the middle is a white candle seen from the burnt wick end, not a pearl onion, and the red things are definitely nice reasonable maraschino cherries.

The pepper, though, I'm as clueless as the rest of you. Unless they misinterpreted "carrot cake" even worse than we thought. Actually, though, black pepper with chocolate shouldn't taste too bad - much less dubious than the carrots!

If something is slightly sweet it is fair game for dessert somewhere. I was in Brunei a few years ago and was served a banana split with corn in it! And sweet potato ice cream is common in Japan. That icing may not even be chocolate. It could be like the "chocolate" cake I once bought in Singapore that turned out to iced with red bean paste.

This reminds me of when I lived in the Philippines and ordered a pecan pie: I provided the pecans and the recipe. I got a beautifully cooked pie-- with a cup of pecans on the side. Apparently the recipe didn't actually say to put in the nuts. I agree with Katie, I'm sure she asked for carrot cake. When in Turkey, I've had chicken pudding.

Whatever it looks like, I'll bet it was delicious! I had the most incredible desserts in Turkey. Mmm...just thinking about it makes me want to go back! I will grant, of course, that it looks, well, not delicious :)

I've never commented before, but this post will make me do it. I just found out I'm pregnant, and I wanted to let you know that that cake right there - actually made me physically gag! Thanks for that :)!

Maybe Jody was from Utah, and the cake makers, knowing nothing else about Utah except for their penchant to put carrots in green jello decided to put the carrots on the cake thinking maybe that carrots went into every desert in Utah. (And I live in UT, and the carrots/green jello thing...totally true)

I've lived in Turkey a long time and I've never seen a cake this bad. I think the orange things are probably carrots, the green things are pistacios, and the little red decorations on the sides are pomagranite kernels. I agree with some of the other comments that poor Jody must have requested a carrot cake and the Turks didn't know how to make one. How funny. I love this site. I can come here whenever I need a laugh.

I can honestly say that I've voluntarily eaten carrots dipped in chocolate frosting and they were quite tasty. A friend made some absolutely delicious frosting for some mini chocolate cupcakes. I had already had a few cupcakes, but still wanted more frosting (and felt it would be a major faux pas to stick my finger in the frosting bowl)...so I dipped in a baby carrot. And then a second...

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